Gimp and Hallmarking ;-)

Hi Folks

This is an ongoing process and I welcome comments and suggestions. Gimp ... base metal, plated french wire, that I have been using is now being dis-allowed by the assay testers, at least in the London and Birmingham offices. I attended an intro tour at Goldsmiths Hall in London earlier this week, and gimp was a hot topic! ;-) And this raises several questions on my part.

The initial advice I received from the assay representative was to make the gimp myself or use a different coloured gimp wire so that it wasn't easily confused with the 9ct/18ct/SS beads and clasps that I use. Hmmm. I found a supplier in the UK that offers 0.2mm wire (the smallest gauge wire supplied by Cookson Gold is 0.3mm and is too thick - I tried it and it didn't work well - too rigid and wide) and some of the questions that arise in my world are:

1) does anyone here have experience in making their own gimp? How successful is it? What gauge wire do you use?

2) does it work-harden quickly? If so, do you anneal it again? Any tips I could consider around this?

3) another suggestion has been to use, say, 22ct gold wire as it's softer so may not work-harden as quickly as 9ct or 18ct ... and this may potentially impact the hallmarking process as the 22ct mark may have to be added. Is this actually feasible? What do you reckon?

I am in email comms with the London hallmarking office and I wonder how many other people this affects as well?

It occurs to me that some of the beading materials, and beads, that I also might consider using were not around at the time that the hallmarking rules were made. Some of the threading cords I have found are gold or silver plated, which would probably also not be allowed now - it's a question I've raised again with the London assay office and await a response.

Please understand I'm not trying to circumvent the hallmarking process. I get the integrity and quality required and am doing my best to honour that and create my jewellery within those bounds. I would like my clients to have the assurance that the hallmarking process provides :)

The gimp that I've found, so far, is plated, except for some sterling silver gimp that's made by a supplier outside the UK so I can use that if the client asks for silver instead of gold.

What else is possible that I haven't considered yet?

What do you guys do about gimp if you don't make it yourself?

Thanks so much
Janine.

I had the same problem, seems ridiculous to me tbh given that it needs no special tools to remove.
Anyway I just used 9ct 0.2mm wire which you can get from Betts, I didn't need to anneal it at all and it wound easily around a needle.
It does hold its shape more than Gimp so you have to be careful not to distort it when threading but it works ok.

Oh great, thanks for your response. I'll look further at getting the 0.2mm wire and continue with that. Janine.